Brig. Gen. James C. Smith and South Vietnam\u2019s Vice President Nguyen Cao Ky (center) salute the playing of the National Anthem during ceremonies at Hunter Army Airfield in this November 1970 photo.

Hunter Army Airfield began more than eight decades ago as a municipal airport on what once was the southwest corner of Savannah.

The 730-acre Belmont Tract, owned by J.C. Lewis, was accepted by City Council members as the future site of the Savannah Municipal Airport in 1929. The land cost $35,000 and boasted a runway and several buildings by September of that year.

By May 1940, the airstrip was named Hunter Municipal Airfield during Savannah Aviation Week, which honored Lt. Col. Frank O'Driscoll Hunter, a Savannah native and World War I flying ace who made a surprise appearance at the dedication ceremony.

A few months later, the Army Air Corps got permission to build a base at Hunter. The first tenants were soldiers of the 3rd and 27th Bombardment Groups and the 35th Air Base Group from Barksdale Field, La.

It was renamed Savannah Air Base in February 1941.

During World War II, the base hosted operational training units, and saw B-10s, B-18s and B-23s as well as A-20s, P-38s and P-40s as the nation's air corps matured.

It was during this period that the Army's Eighth Air Force was activated and located at the airfield.

During the course of the next few decades, the site was expanded and returned to civilian use before returning to the military in September 1950.

By the mid 1960s, the airfield was placed on the closing list, then resurrected by the Vietnam War and turned over to the Army, where it has since operated in conjunction with Fort Stewart, 40 miles southwest in Liberty County.

In 1973, the airfield went into "caretaker" status and was reopened two years later as a support facility for the re-activated 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Fort Stewart.